Leighton Beaman | Cornell University (original) (raw)

Book Chapters by Leighton Beaman

Landscapes are open systems, always in a state of perpetual information exchange with surrounding... more Landscapes are open systems, always in a state of perpetual information exchange with surrounding conditions. This exchange activates and sustains the material processes that continually form, inform, and transform landscapes. For landscape architecture, as with any practice of spatial design, the capacity to understand these processes and the ability to intervene in them lies within the representational models that practice employs. As we find the need to generate more responsible, responsive, and effective environmental interventions, a pressing issue for design, manufacturing resonance between these representational models and the complex environments they describe challenges the anthropogenic basis on which these models have been constructed.

Articles by Leighton Beaman

Any notion or definition of architecture is preceded by an understanding of ourselves as the pred... more Any notion or definition of architecture is preceded by an understanding of ourselves as the predominant spatial referent. The human antecedent from its physiological composition to its cognitive capacities is already embedded in any process of creation, structure of experience, or body of knowledge we engage. From the virtualization of proportion to the actualized qualities of material bodies, human definitions form a foundation for architectural history. It is a history of spatial assemblies between humans and nonhumans, the relationships between them, and the processes that form them. And yet, with the current decentering of humanity as the sole subjective lens through which spatial organizations and material constructions find relevance and define value, what is meant when we say " human " and its a priori status in designing the built environment is called into question. Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF), which emerged as titular terms through regional and lexiconical preferences, refer to the same overarch-ing body of research, set of practices and modes of application. 1 Both emerged as organized disciplines in the 1950s based in large part to post-WWII investigations into issues of safety and performance between humans and mechanical systems carried out simultaneously in the US, Russia and throughout Europe. 2 Despite current connotations among design professionals and the general public that ergonomics and human factors is concerned with the fitness of objects to bodies, neither term nor their subsequent codification into research objectives, practices and industries are limited to or defined by this narrow reading. More appropriate would be an understanding of both terms as " primarily concerned with how human beings interact with technological systems in all their various forms ". 3 This turn in definition, away from objects and toward systems/relations, allows E/HF to escape the artifice of industrial practice and fully embrace the relational aspects of the anthropo-technological assemblages and the human and non-human actants that comprise them. 4 This paper examines six frames through which architectural discourse is able to appropriate ergo-nomics to analyze its own statements on humans, nonhumans, and their spatial ontologies: the Mereological, the Bio-Mechanical, the Ecological, the Computational, the Sensorial, and the Epiphyolgenic. Through an analysis of spatial artefacts and cultural practices both impacting and impacted by design, each frame is explored through its preeminent status in design thinking and discourse. It will be argued that this analysis reveals both evolutionary and incongruent approaches to building spatial ontolo-gies within architectural and extra-architectural practices. Humans & Nonhumans Any notion or definition of architecture is preceded by an understanding of ourselves as the predominant spatial referent. The human antecedent from its physiological composition to its cognitive capacities is already embedded in any process of creation, structure of experience, or body of knowledge we engage. From the virtualization of propor

Running parallel with the increase in partnered research initiatives in the fields of technology,... more Running parallel with the increase in partnered research initiatives in the fields of technology, medicine, and engineering, collaborations between private sector commercial or research organizations and academia are on the rise in architecture. There has been a recognition particularly in the last ten years of the value of incorporating design thinking into problem solving across scales and industries. From focused material investigations to long-term strategic planning, those outside of academia are looking to architects and spatial designers to leverage their approaches and processes to address real-world issues faced by communities, organizations, and businesses. Universities use these partnerships to fund research, offset capital expenses, and expand their influence. But these partnered research initiatives do not come without costs. The responsibility for companies and organizations is to see a return on their investment. Consequently, for universities, the academic freedom and maintaining of a clear pedagogy can be met with pushback. In addition, project goals and values do not always align, and expectations between partners can vary. This paper examines a number of strategies that address the inherent tension in partnered research-design projects by reconfiguring stated problems into proxy inquiries. Proxies, as stand-ins for another-a person, an organization, an action or a process-allow for existing problems to be reconstructed into pedagogical ones-they allow for scales to be shifted and they generate holistic outcomes in the truncated duration of a semester, rather than offer piecemeal results. Proxies offer a methodology for accepting the constraints of partnered research as a way of expanding design inquiry, while remaining grounded in problems fundamental to architecture and design. More than just a substitute, proxies transmit agency. Outlined in the paper are findings from the Proxy Series, which began in 2007 as a set of research-based academic inquiries focused on the exploration of emerging technologies and their reshaping of 1) design theory, 2) design process, and 3) design production. Conducted through studios, seminars, and independent research, each inquiry investigated a discrete set of issues spanning these three areas. While each is constructed to address a specific design problem within a pedagogical framework, the imposition of extra-academic considerations allowed for the pursuit of production techniques, materials research, and software experimentation, while working with partners and collaborators outside of the design discipline. As such, proxies offered an alternative formulation of the design life-cycle-one that emerged and evolved beyond conventional forms of practice or current problem-solving approaches, while mirroring the aspirations of the partnered research model itself. THE REAL & THE SIMULATED Design education takes many approaches toward the design of the design problem. For architectural education, the vast majority of these didactic prob

The article evaluates two architectural design software applications (apps) from the software cor... more The article evaluates two architectural design software applications (apps) from the software corporation Autodesk including the Formit iPad tablet computer app and Dynamo visual scripting software, which were showcased at the 2013 AIA Departments.

international journal of interior architecture + spatial design, Jun 2013

Misuse is the deployment of a material in ways other than what was intended. This unintended appl... more Misuse is the deployment of a material in ways other than what was intended. This unintended application of materials becomes a practice many designers enlist in order to create novel and unexpected results. This alternative use of a material produces instances of poetic infection and invert presumptions deriving outcomes from an oppositional position. Misuse questions the purpose and intent that originally brought the material into existence and defined its proper use. This act becomes simultaneously an acknowledgement and a subversion of identity. Material misuse is a statement about the power of creative thinking; through our own studies of materials we have developed the ability to create something
extraordinary out of something common.

The article reports that technology company Trimble Navigation Limited acquired architecture, eng... more The article reports that technology company Trimble Navigation Limited acquired architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) technology company Gehry Technologies (GT).

Materi•ology, the study of materials, can never be its own discipline, because it is already a co... more Materi•ology, the study of materials, can never be its own discipline, because it is already a component of every discipline. It cannot be a study at a specific scale, because it is already a study at every scale -quantum to cosmological. This endeavor is visceral and computational, individual and universal, immediate and mediated, intense and subtle. Most importantly though, is the realization that with every new study material potentials are revealed.

Academic material collections, much like their professional and commercial counterparts are taske... more Academic material collections, much like their professional and commercial counterparts are tasked with acquiring, cataloging, and storing specimens. In doing so, they provide a valuable resource for students, faculty, designers, and researchers. More than just a facility defined as a controlled and static environment, a materials collection is a laboratory for research, experimentation, and discourse. It begins with a ‘hands-on materials’ understanding at the basic and most immediate one-to-one scale, where the opportunities to see, touch, smell, and hear becomes part of the training for a beginning designer. But beyond these organizational and practical considerations, an academic materials collection can also provide a pedagogical framework that critically and fundamentally engages design education.

Conference Presentations by Leighton Beaman

There exist a number of pedagogical approaches to considering design process in education. Many o... more There exist a number of pedagogical approaches to considering design process in education. Many of these establish a bias towards either a systems logic or formal logic as an operative design framework. The systems-based approach investigates physical and temporal processes, while the formal-based approach advances visual, spatial and haptic explorations. Both of these have correlations to practice and theory and both rely on material actualization. What is at stake in design education today is the ability to prepare students for managing and utilizing the complex relationships between the two, and to do so increasingly by leveraging both computational and material methodologies. As educators, our pedagogical approaches to analyzing and demystifying these complexities are a crucial consideration in developing an academic course. Individual design disciplines share these concerns but each has developed unique approaches to address them. In recent years, we have developed an interdisciplinary pedagogical model that builds a sound relationship between system and form through the incorporation of digital and physical simulation as our primary conceptual framework to studio-based education. It is in simulation (data, materials, and technology) that we find an integrated relationship between system and form already present. This latent integrated state provides a base condition for the design disciplines. This paper will examine a series of interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches carried out in architecture and landscape architecture studios which link system and form on a fundamental level. In each, the incorporation of digital technologies and computational/material explorations early in the educational career of students provides a means for understanding how system and form are connected. We will present three strategies-System-Form, Data-Material, and Space-Cycle-utilized in design education, and will posit ways of moving forward and expanding this hybrid pedagogical approach to non-design disciplines, practice and research.

There exist a number of pedagogical approaches to considering process in a design studio curricul... more There exist a number of pedagogical approaches to considering process in a design studio curriculum. Many of these establish a bias towards either systems logic or formal logic as an operative design methodology. The systems-based approach seeks to find and exploit physical processes and temporal cycles, while the formal approach tends to advance material, spatial, visual and haptic investigations. Both of these have correlations to practice and theory. What is at stake in education is the ability to prepare students for managing and applying the complex relationships between systems and forms inherent in any constructed environment, and to do so by leveraging the computational abilities of design technologies.

Book & Technology Reviews by Leighton Beaman

Though the term "workflow" is relatively new to the design lexicon, its meaning is not. Workflow ... more Though the term "workflow" is relatively new to the design lexicon, its meaning is not. Workflow is the sequence of operations which translate information across media, materials, and industries, crucial in realizing a project. As digital computing has supplanted many of the mechanical processes architects relied on to develop and communicate information across fields and industries, new workflows have emerged. Digital Workflows in Architecture asks how digital technologies have redefined the relationships between information and production and what this might mean for the future of architecture.

The article reviews several software applications for iPad tablet computers designed to help with... more The article reviews several software applications for iPad tablet computers designed to help with architectural sketches including Morpholio, Concepts from Top Hatch, and Sketchbook Pro from Autodesk.

The article offers a review of the Morpholio Trace mobile device application which allows design ... more The article offers a review of the Morpholio Trace mobile device application which allows design professionals to create sketches on layers of digital tracing paper.

The article reviews a version of the 3-D modeling program for Window, Rhinoceros, released by the... more The article reviews a version of the 3-D modeling program for Window, Rhinoceros, released by the architectural firm Robert McNeel & Associates.

Books by Leighton Beaman

Innovations in Landscape Architecture, 2016

Papers by Leighton Beaman

Manufacturing resonance

Innovations in Landscape Architecture, 2016

Transformative Impact

Routledge eBooks, Aug 16, 2022

international journal of interior architecture + spatial design, Jun 2013

Innovations in Landscape Architecture, 2016

Manufacturing resonance

Innovations in Landscape Architecture, 2016

Transformative Impact

Routledge eBooks, Aug 16, 2022

Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA)

As issues of sustainability gain traction for architects, methodologies for designing, analyzing,... more As issues of sustainability gain traction for architects, methodologies for designing, analyzing, and calibrating design solutions have emerged as essential areas of research and development. A number of approaches have been pursued with regard to embedding data into the design process, most fall into one of two approaches to research. The first approach is to mediate environmental impact at the level of applied technology; the second alters building methods and material construction, generating efficient energy use. However, few approaches deal with the crafting of relationships between information and performance on an architectural level. We will examine an approach focused on understanding how crafting relationships between information and design can move architecture towards achieving sustainability.

Symposium: “Mass Customization and Design Democratization”

Technology|Architecture + Design, 2017

T A D 1 : 2 “Mass Customization and Digital Democratization” symposium. For readers who are new t... more T A D 1 : 2 “Mass Customization and Digital Democratization” symposium. For readers who are new to the subject, it presents a clear overview of the capabilities of subtractive and additive processes, as well as relatively new (to architecture) tools like industrial robots. This section also includes a critical discussion of where prototyping discourse resides currently, presenting commentary both for and against the trend of purely digital techniques. “Prototyping in Practice” presents a survey of 50 contemporary projects, organized into a taxonomy of 9 different methodologies. While the taxonomy is intentionally loose in definition, the authors make it clear that prototyping has both a wide range of applications and a diverse set of goals across the discipline. Each of the nine sections begins with a brief explanation of its theme. These insights serve to support the taxonomy, though not all projects prescribe as clearly as others. If anything, this points to the challenge of categ...

ThiS paper will diSCuSS The uSe Of COmplex SySTemS in analyzinG biOlOGiCal preCedenCe Of Self-OrG... more ThiS paper will diSCuSS The uSe Of COmplex SySTemS in analyzinG biOlOGiCal preCedenCe Of Self-OrGanizinG, Self-STabilizinG and emerGenT phenOmenOn. The use of complex biological systems will be used to define relational models that avoid issues of scale. Scalability (the ability to traverse scales) will be presented as a relational construct through the use of scope, not scale. The analysis of biological formation and organization as a relational model defined by scope will be presented as a generative in forming design strategies and solutions and will be illustrated in four undergraduate-level architecture studio projects.

Landscapes After The Bifurcation of Nature: Models for Speculative Landformations

Landformations have not historically been the purview of design production or intervention. Wheth... more Landformations have not historically been the purview of design production or intervention. Whether it is the spatial extensions in which they emerge, the temporal extensions in which they operate, the complexities of their generative and sustaining processes, or a cultural and institutional deference to a notion of natural processes, designers as individuals or design as a discipline has not treated landformation as an area of design inquiry. But the inability to grasp nature fully has not stopped geological-scale manipulation by humans. In fact, anthropogenic activity is responsible for the re-formation of more of the Earth’s surface than all other agents combined. And yet as designers we often disregard this transformation as a design problem, precisely because it eludes the artifices of information visualization employed by designers. This paper examines ongoing research into the generation of speculative landformations through an analysis of underlying geological and anthropoge...

International Journal of Architectural Computing

Chock's phrase "By Any Media Necessary" refers to the growing community of practitioners and rese... more Chock's phrase "By Any Media Necessary" refers to the growing community of practitioners and researchers that are leveraging advanced media, methods, and modalities of design toward issues of social justice, inclusivity, and environmental responsibility. A plurality of health, ecology, and society pandemics are placing a renewed focus on designers to direct and re-prioritize their work, research, and scholarship outward, beyond disciplinary boundaries. These acute circumstances call for a collective re-imagining of alternative futures that recognize interdependent socio-technical variables in design, research, practice, and pedagogy. With this issue, the International Journal of Architectural Computing asks its community to reflect upon the necessary restructuring of priorities, goals, and means within and beyond computational design that would afford a responsible direction for moving forward. The call for efficacy and affect is more than a technological problem. It is one that is both physical and virtual, social and individual, where multiple and often competing narratives complicate the move toward accessibility, inclusivity, and equity. The path to a more equitable future is conditioned on mediacies capable of breaking boundaries and bridging distances. As Sherry Turkle's term "alone together" reminds us, unrestrained connectedness may often bring forms of unexpected isolation. Along these mediacies comes the question of how human and/or machine relationships can be weaved and what role our disciplines can play beyond the conventional expectations of what a technical design practice is. This issue of IJAC examines the ways projects, practices, techniques, technologies, and mediated forms of social mechanics are being reconsidered as paths toward design efficacy through the production of a shared constructed (physical or otherwise) environment. By what means should we be reconsidering, redeveloping, and reinventing design practices, design technology, and design pedagogy to address the social, ecological, and ethical challenges of today and those we will face tomorrow? This issue offers a collection of work that investigates, explores, critiques, recalibrates, demolishes, and rebuilds from debris relationships between the designer, the machine, the occupant, and the space that are inherent to a computational architectural practice. The following essays offer new design approaches and technical methodologies for construction of robust practices that leverage the machine while centering on the human. The issue includes a wide range of areas and topics, including prototypes of space-machine-human interactions, computational tools for minimizing waste in construction, novel pedagogical strategies focusing on inclusion in digital fabrication, and integration of economy variables into the design process. In their essay titled The Question of Access: Toward an Equitable Future of Computational Design, Noel Vernelle, Yana Boeva, and Hayri Dortdivanlioglu investigate the status quo of digital fabrication training, explicitly focusing on the issue of disconnected CAD-CAM workflows in pedagogies. They then propose an alternative pedagogy that is focusing on the development of embodied knowledges through leveraging of craft practices in combination with digital tools and machines. They stress that equity is impossible without full access which is not just physical proximity to tools and technologies, but must also consider modes of knowledge building.